Federal death penalty to be sought against Duncan

Alleged killer, child abductor faces state trial in Idaho first

Nicholas K. Geranios, The Associated Press

Published 10:00 pm, Tuesday, October 3, 2006

SPOKANE -- Federal prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty when they charge registered sex offender Joseph Edward Duncan III in the abduction of two children, a move that may spark new efforts to settle Idaho state charges against him, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

Prosecutors in Boise, Idaho, have received permission from the Justice Department to seek capital punishment should Duncan be convicted in the abduction of Shasta Groene, 8, and the abduction and slaying of Dylan Groene, 9, said Jean McNeil, spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Tom Moss.

"Federal charges and formal notice to seek the death penalty are expected to be filed at a later date," McNeil said.

Some Oregon Residents Upset at Prospect of Pumping Their Own GasBuzz 60

Doug Baldwin playcallingBy Michael-Shawn Dugar, SeattlePI

Van Crashes Into Pedestrians Injuring SixAssociated Press

US military to accept transgender recruits after Trump drops appealEuronews

Snow on Christmas Eve, 2017Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ice carving at WinterfestSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Amtrak derails near OlympiaGrant Hindsley / SeattlePI

Golden retriever meets Darth Vader and EwokSeattle Post-Intelligencer

Seattle's tunnel project, 2017 in reviewWSDOT

Hillary Clinton Book Signing Capitol HillSeattle Post-Intelligencer

She declined to say exactly what federal charges Duncan would face, which she acknowledged made Tuesday's announcement unusual.

"There has been so much publicity and so much speculation about what we would do, that we think it is appropriate to make the announcement now," McNeil said.

Duncan, 43, a Tacoma native, already faces the possibility of a death penalty if he is convicted in an Idaho court on three counts of murder. He is accused of using a hammer to kill the children's mother, Brenda Groene; her fiance, Mark McKenzie; and Groene's 13-year-old son, Slade, in May 2005 at the family's home east of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Related Stories

Court documents allege Duncan, who spent most of his adult life in Washington prisons for sexual crimes against children, committed the slayings so he could kidnap the two children for sex.

The federal decision could have implications for the state case as Shasta's father, Steve Groene, would prefer that the case be settled so his daughter would not have to testify against Duncan in court. Steve Groene was recovering from cancer surgery in Seattle on Tuesday and not available for comment.

Duncan's public defender, John Adams, has said he would be open to a plea bargain if the state agreed not to seek the death penalty. Otherwise, he has warned, Shasta Groene may have to face Duncan in court through 20 years of appeals.

Adams was out of his office Tuesday and not available for comment.

Kootenai County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Douglas and the families of some of the murder victims have been adamant that capital punishment remain an option.

Shasta Groene, now 9, is the only survivor of the attack on her family's home and of the subsequent ordeal in which the children were held for seven weeks at a remote Montana campsite. Court documents indicate she has provided a wealth of details to investigators, and her testimony is likely to be devastating to Duncan's defense during the trial that begins Oct. 16 in Coeur d'Alene.

Roger Peven, Duncan's federal public defender, said the decision by the U.S. attorney was not a surprise. Peven traveled to Washington, D.C., in late September to discuss the case with the Justice Department's capital case unit.

Peven said he hoped the federal decision might push Douglas to seek a settlement in the state case.

"What this does offer is not avoidance of a trial, but avoidance of appeals, which can take a decade or two," Peven said of the state case. "If the case is settled in state court, there would be no appeals."

Kootenai County Commissioner Katie Brodie told a newspaper Monday that settling the state case is likely to save the county at least $1 million in trial costs.